Ancient Fire is the name of my brand of homemade wines, meads, ciders & beers. Under that name I also write articles on my projects, wines from around the world, food & pairing, the wine business, wineries, travel and all things I enjoy in this life. -- Jason

Friday, December 9, 2011

Godiva Coffee Livens Up Your Holidays

Godiva coffee was a new product for me this year. I’ve had the chance
to try it several times both through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program
and at the Foodbuzz Festival. Thank you to Godiva and Foodbuzz!

My first tastes came during my Godiva Coffee Cocktail experiments
with the limited edition flavors Pumpkin Spice and Caramel Pecan Bark. Living
in New England I come across pumpkin flavored coffee quite a bit and my
experience is that it can be a really tough flavor to channel well into coffee.
Godiva has done a nice job of balancing the pumpkin and spice flavors with the
underlying coffee elements, making it smooth and drinkable without being overpowering.
The Caramel Pecan Bark wins this race on aroma. The kitchen smelled so good,
like we were baking cookies and making chocolates, when I first brewed it and I
saw the bottom of the empty bag of this flavor first!

While I write this I’m enjoying a cup of Godiva Hazelnut Crème
Coffee, one of the samples I picked up at the tasting pavilion during the
Foodbuzz Festival. The hazelnut flavor is very accessible and the underlying
coffee is again rich and flavorful. I’ve already taken down about half the mug
and am feeling pretty perky for a morning I was moving a bit slow to start
with. I wonder how jacked up the folks in the Godiva Coffee test kitchens got
while testing out the flavoring to get them just right!

The farewell brunch at the Foodbuzz Festival was sponsored
by Godiva Coffee and they served the unflavored Breakfast Blend. Again I was
struck by the richness of the coffee. Without any added flavor I was really
able to experience the roasted flavors and didn’t detect and harsh or sharp
elements that might otherwise be masked in its flavored siblings. It was
clearly brewed well, the secret to making sure any coffee has a chance to
please, and when prepared with my typical amount of cream and sugar it remained
bold and flavorful. Bravo! As I and other festival-goers assembled at the table
I mentioned the coffee and how happy it was making me. Everyone else who chimed
in was equally complimentary to the coffee, also mentioning the rich, bold
flavors and that the coffee was a noticeable and happy departure from everyday restaurant
coffee.

Now that I’ve got you all jonesing for a cup of coffee I
guess I should try to rescue you. Two lucky blog readers are going to win a
Godiva swag pack that includes:

A full sized bag of Godiva coffee

Sampler
pack of flavored coffees

Godiva apron

The apron will come in especially handy to keep your holiday
cooking messes off your favorite holiday sweater! Sorry, I had to. For the
record I don’t wear a holiday sweater, but I do don an apron to keep myself presentable
when entertaining and cooking at the same time.

So how do you get a chance to win? Visit the Godiva Coffee website to take a look their collection. Then come back here and leave a comment
with how you would incorporate Godiva Coffee into your holidays. Would the
Peppermint Mocha make your special holiday traditions even more special or will
you put on your mad scientist lab coat and use a different flavor in the recipe
for a new holiday treat? Any way you spin it, you and everyone you share the
coffee with will be smiling.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

7 comments:

Godiva Peppermint Mocha - I would be using this in conjunction with Kahlua actually... A fresh baked devil's food cake would have a gelatin-Godiva Peppermint Mocha solution in the 'poke cake' fashion. I would make a homemade ganache using a fine milk chocolate and adding kahlua in it with the cream... followed by a Dekuyper Dark Creme de minthe frosting - shaved white chocolate on top, finely crushed frozen Andes Candies on top would really present well and feature Godiva's coffee very well.

I also actually love the Hazelnut Creme Godiva coffee as well and have used it to make pancakes with it. Instead of water, I would use chilled G-Hazelnut Creme coffee into my pancake recipe... Toast up some hazelnuts and toss in salted caramel to give a light candied coating... real NH Maple Syrup with fresh made whipped cream, shaved curls of dark chocolate, and a drizzle of Godiva's white chocolate liqueuer for a more grown-up version of Christmas morning pancakes!

We don't even get a snapshot of you in an apron? I have to say I've been trying the coffee too and enjoying it. It always makes me feel a wee bit unsophisticated because I know there those that turn their nose up at the idea of enjoying flavored coffee, but I kind of don't care.

I've been meaning to incorporate some of the grounds into a cookie recipe as I've made Momofuku's fantastic compost cookies and the true version has some in it.

I totally love caramel flavored EVERYTHING! Caramel coffee? All the better... Some companies get it right but a lot of them get it totally wrong and you are overwhelmed with Butterscotch flavor as opposed to true caramel. I bet Godiva would get it right. As for how I would integrate it into my holiday season? For the past few years, my husband and I have set aside our own Christmas desires so that we can focus our finances on our children and other family members. Our Christmas gift to each other is usually some kind of GREAT coffee K-cups for our Kureg. Since we use the refillable one during the rest of the year, K-cups are a splurge for sure! I am also a coffee snob...seriously...I will go without for DAYS rather than drink a cup of disgusting coffee. Unfortunately, now that I am a stay-at-home mom and we are living on one income, my Starbuck's and Dunkin' Donut's budget has seen a drastic downturn. So, for one, I would ask for it for Godiva's Caramel coffee for Christmas and since I haven't asked for ANYTHING for Christmas yet, that would be paying homage to the Godiva company...that their product actually warranted my coffee-snobbery riddled request. :) In the spirit of giving, I would also be willing to SHARE my Godiva Caramel coffee with people who truly appreciate a flavored coffee...this group would NOT include my husband who is a coffee flavor minimalist or anyone else who has ever complained about flavored coffees in my presence...EVER!

Today is my brithday, so I MUST win this ! Have made myself a Triple Ginger Cake to serve @ my Hen's Party tonite, and I'd love to add some Godiva Caramel Coffee (my fave flavor in the world)to the ganache frosting. I will share the easy recipe on this blog if Jason picks me. M-m-m-m-m-m-m kaaaar-melllll (with apologies to Homer Simpson)